[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1504 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1504
To withdraw normal trade relations treatment from, and apply certain
provisions of title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 to, products of the
People's Republic of China, and to expand the eligibility requirements
for products of the People's Republic of China to receive normal trade
relations treatment in the future, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 21, 2025
Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Tiffany, and Mr. Ogles)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To withdraw normal trade relations treatment from, and apply certain
provisions of title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 to, products of the
People's Republic of China, and to expand the eligibility requirements
for products of the People's Republic of China to receive normal trade
relations treatment in the future, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``China Trade Relations Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL OF NORMAL TRADE RELATIONS TREATMENT FROM THE
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.
Notwithstanding the provisions of title I of Public Law 106-286
(114 Stat. 880) or any other provision of law, effective on the date of
the enactment of this Act--
(1) normal trade relations treatment shall not apply
pursuant to section 101 of that Act to the products of the
People's Republic of China;
(2) normal trade relations treatment may thereafter be
extended to the products of the People's Republic of China only
in accordance with the provisions of chapter 1 of title IV of
the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2431 et seq.), as in effect
with respect to the products of the People's Republic of China
on the day before the effective date of the accession of the
People's Republic of China to the World Trade Organization; and
(3) the extension of waiver authority that was in effect
with respect to the People's Republic of China under section
402(d)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2432(d)(1)) on
the day before the effective date of the accession of the
People's Republic of China to the World Trade Organization
shall, upon the enactment of this Act, be deemed not to have
expired, and shall continue in effect until the date that is 90
days after the date of such enactment.
SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF BASES OF INELIGIBILITY OF PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF
CHINA FOR NORMAL TRADE RELATIONS.
(a) In General.--Section 402 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.
2432) is amended--
(1) in the section heading, by striking ``freedom of
emigration in east-west trade'' and inserting ``east-west trade
and human rights''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(f) Additional Bases of Ineligibility of People's Republic of
China for Normal Trade Relations.--
``(1) In general.--Products from the People's Republic of
China shall not be eligible to receive nondiscriminatory
treatment (normal trade relations), the People's Republic of
China shall not participate in any program of the Government of
the United States which extends credits or credit guarantees or
investment guarantees, directly or indirectly, and the
President shall not conclude any commercial agreement with the
People's Republic of China, during the period--
``(A) beginning with the date on which the
President determines that the People's Republic of
China--
``(i) is in violation of paragraph (1),
(2), or (3) of subsection (a);
``(ii) has not substantially promoted the
freedom of emigration objectives of this
section;
``(iii) has not complied with the China-
United States Memorandum of Understanding on
Prohibiting Import and Export Trade in Prison
Labor Products, done at Washington, DC, on
August 7, 1992;
``(iv) has not complied with International
Labour Organization standards;
``(v) operates `vocational training and
education centers' or other concentration camps
where people are held against their will;
``(vi) intimidates or harasses nationals of
the People's Republic of China living outside
the People's Republic of China;
``(vii) fails to protect Tibet's
distinctive religious and cultural heritage;
``(viii) engages in systematic economic
espionage against the United States, including
theft of the intellectual property of United
States persons; and
``(ix) has not made significant progress
on--
``(I) taking steps to begin
adhering to the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights;
``(II) eliminating the use of
torture;
``(III) releasing and providing an
acceptable accounting for Chinese
citizens imprisoned or detained for the
non-violent expression of their
political and religious beliefs,
including such expression of beliefs in
connection with the independence of
Hong Kong and Taiwan;
``(IV) ensuring humane treatment of
prisoners, such as by allowing access
to prisons by international
humanitarian and human rights
organizations;
``(V) permitting international
radio and television broadcasts into
China;
``(VI) humanely treating prisoners;
``(VII) allowing access to
international humanitarian and human
rights organizations;
``(VIII) ceasing harvesting the
organs of prisoners without their
consent; or
``(IX) ceasing performing and
otherwise ordering forced abortion or
sterilization procedures; and
``(B) ending on the date on which the President
determines that the People's Republic of China is no
longer in violation of any of clauses (i) through (ix)
of subparagraph (A).
``(2) Report required.--
``(A) In general.--After the date of the enactment
of this subsection, products of the People's Republic
of China may be eligible to receive nondiscriminatory
treatment (normal trade relations), the People's
Republic of China may participate in any program of the
Government of the United States which extends credits
or credit guarantees or investment guarantees, and the
President may conclude a commercial agreement with the
People's Republic of China, only after the President
has submitted to Congress a report indicating that the
People's Republic of China is not in violation of any
of clauses (i) through (ix) of paragraph (1)(A).
``(B) Elements.--The report required by
subparagraph (A) shall include information as to the
nature and implementation of laws and policies of the
People's Republic of China relating to the matters
specified in clauses (i) through (ix) of paragraph
(1)(A).
``(C) Deadlines.--The report required by
subparagraph (A) shall be submitted on or before each
June 30 and December 31 of each year for as long as
products of the People's Republic of China receive
nondiscriminatory treatment (normal trade relations),
the People's Republic of China participates in any
program of the Government of the United States which
extends credits or credit guarantees or investment
guarantees, or a commercial agreement with the People's
Republic of China is in effect.
``(3) Waiver.--
``(A) In general.--The President is authorized to
waive by Executive order the application of paragraphs
(1) and (2) for a 12-month period if the President
submits to Congress a report that the President--
``(i) has determined that such waiver will
substantially promote the objectives of this
subsection; and
``(ii) has received assurances that the
practices of the People's Republic of China
relating to the matters specified in clauses
(i) through (ix) of paragraph (1)(A) will in
the future lead substantially to the
achievement of the objectives of this
subsection.
``(B) Termination of waiver.--A waiver under
subparagraph (A) shall terminate on the earlier of--
``(i) the day after the waiver authority
granted by this paragraph ceases to be
effective under paragraph (4); or
``(ii) the effective date of an Executive
order providing for termination of the waiver.
``(4) Extension of waiver authority.--
``(A) Recommendations.--If the President determines
that the further extension of the waiver authority
granted under paragraph (3) will substantially promote
the objectives of this subsection, the President may
recommend further extensions of such authority for
successive 12-month periods. Any such recommendations
shall--
``(i) be made not later than 30 days before
the expiration of such authority;
``(ii) be made in a document submitted to
the House of Representatives and the Senate
setting forth the reasons of the President for
recommending the extension of such authority;
and
``(iii) include--
``(I) a determination that
continuation of the waiver will
substantially promote the objectives of
this subsection; and
``(II) a statement setting forth
the reasons of the President for such
determination.
``(B) Continuation in effect of waiver.--If the
President recommends under subparagraph (A) the further
extension of the waiver authority granted under
paragraph (3), such authority shall continue in effect
until the end of the 12-month period following the end
of the previous 12-month extension, unless--
``(i) Congress adopts and transmits to the
President a joint resolution of disapproval
under paragraph (5) before the end of the 60-
day period beginning on the date the waiver
authority would expire but for an extension
under subparagraph (A); and
``(ii) if the President vetoes the joint
resolution, each House of Congress votes to
override the veto on or before the later of--
``(I) the last day of the 60-day
period referred to in clause (i); or
``(II) the last day of the 15-day
period (excluding any day described in
section 154(b)) beginning on the date
on which Congress receives the veto
message from the President.
``(C) Termination of waiver pursuant to joint
resolution of disapproval.--If a joint resolution of
disapproval is enacted into law pursuant to paragraph
(5), the waiver authority granted under paragraph (3)
shall cease to be effective as of the day after the 60-
day period beginning on the date of the enactment of
the joint resolution.
``(5) Joint resolution of disapproval.--
``(A) Joint resolution of disapproval defined.--In
this paragraph, the term `joint resolution of
disapproval' means a joint resolution the matter after
the resolving clause of which is as follows: `That
Congress does not approve the extension of the
authority contained in paragraph (3) of section 402(f)
of the Trade Act of 1974 with respect to the People's
Republic of China recommended by the President to
Congress under paragraph (4) of that section on ___.',
with the blank space being filled with the appropriate
date.
``(B) Procedures in house and senate.--The
provisions of subsections (b) through (f) of section
152 shall apply with respect to a joint resolution of
approval to the same extent and in the same manner as
such provisions apply with respect to a resolution
described in subsection (a) of that section, except
that subsection (e)(2) of that section shall be applied
and administered by substituting `Consideration' for
`Debate'.
``(C) Rules of the house of representatives and
senate.--This paragraph is enacted by Congress--
``(i) as an exercise of the rulemaking
power of the House of Representatives and the
Senate, respectively, and as such is deemed a
part of the rules of each House, respectively,
and supersedes other rules only to the extent
that it is inconsistent with such other rules;
and
``(ii) with full recognition of the
constitutional right of either House to change
the rules (so far as relating to the procedure
of that House) at any time, in the same manner
and to the same extent as in the case of any
other rule of that House.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Trade Act of
1974 is amended by striking the item relating to section 402 and
inserting the following:
``Sec. 402. East-West trade and human rights.''.
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